Is Introversion Still a Liability in Politics?

By ANNA NORTH

2015.02.27
07:55

“You could almost say that introversion has become the new cool,” said Brian R. Little, a professor of psychology at Cambridge University. In large part as a result of Susan Cain’s popular 2012 book “Quiet,” he explained, “there has been a recognition of the quiet strengths of introversion.”

But in political candidates, introversion still seems to arouse some suspicion. At Politico, S.V. Dáte writes that “the single biggest challenge facing the embryonic Jeb Bush-for-president campaign” might be “a grueling, 600-plus-day slog that requires shaking thousands of hands and chatting with countless voters all over the country, when the candidate in question would just as soon disappear into a book.” At a recent speech, he adds, “the problem was not that he wasn’t ready for prime time; it was that he looked as if he didn’t want to be near prime time.”

At New York Magazine, Jaime Fuller rounds up a number of media references to Mr. Bush as an introvert. And he and Mr. Dáte note that Mr. Bush explicitly identified himself as such at a San Francisco event in January. In an age when introversion is cool — or, at least, much-discussed — is this still a problem?

According to Timothy A. Judge, a management professor at Notre Dame who has studied personality, it may be. “I certainly do think introversion is a liability for all types of leadership, including political leadership,” he said in an email. “Extroversion is a social trait, and research we’ve conducted suggests that extroverts are more popular in both educational and work contexts.”

He believes the influence of “Quiet” may be waning. “In my experience, people dislike being labeled as introverts as much as they always have,” he said. “We are a social society, and I think in some ways (due to social networking) the ‘publicness’ of our identities has only increased.”

Like severalothers, he thinks that President Obama is an introvert: “From all that I’ve read about him, while he can be a gifted orator, and obviously has a keen intellect, he is not a ‘man of the people’ — he prefers to surround himself with a fairly small cadre of advisers he knows well, and disdains the rather public nature of negotiating with Congress.” And, he said, “I do believe this has hampered him.”

Still, he cautioned, being introverted doesn’t always harm a political career: “One can always think of exceptions, both in terms of winning elections and being popular.”

Amir Erez, a professor of management at the University of Florida, believes introversion has gained more attention and respect in the last few years. However, he said, “it’s definitely an advantage to be an extrovert as a leader,” because leaders need to demonstrate qualities like dominance, assertiveness and sociability. “From all the personality traits that we know about, extroversion is the most highly correlated with leadership.”

Still, he said, “it doesn’t mean that as a leader you cannot be an introvert.” Introverted people “can learn to become more sociable, more dominant,” he explained, “and I believe that political leaders that are introverted, that’s exactly what they’re doing.”

Dr. Little also believes introverts can behave more like extroverts if they need to. “Many of us, as a result of our vocational or professional demands, act out of character,” he said. “Politicians are sometimes enjoined by their profession to act in ways that are highly extroverted, combative, upbeat, promotional,” he explained, “and people do rise to those occasions,” even if they’re naturally introverted.

And, he argued, your level of extroversion is far from the only thing about your personality that matters. Openness to experience, conscientiousness and emotional stability can also be beneficial in a leader. So can the ability to behave in ways that fit the situation at hand: “I think we need to have the ability to shift and pivot on these personality dimensions,” he said. “Extroverts need to be able to adopt an introverted mode when they’re doing detail work, highly conscientious individuals need to look up every now then and to play with alternate ideas.”

“It’s the flexibility to embody both ends of the spectrum that is really crucial,” he explained.

Other qualities may also make the effect of introversion less pronounced — or even remove it entirely. Ronald Riggio, a professor of leadership and organizational psychology at Claremont McKenna, and his team have found that when someone’s social skills are taken into account, “the effect of extroversion on leadership disappears.” That is, it “doesn’t matter if you’re an extrovert or an introvert, if you’re interpersonally skilled.”

“If you can do well in working a room,” he explained, “if you can appear enthusiastic and articulate when you speak, then being an introvert is not a liability.”

Ms. Cain, meanwhile, has argued that introversion may confer its own benefits. In a 2012 New York Times Op-Ed, she wrote:

“Introverted leaders often possess an innate caution that may be more valuable than we realize. President Clinton’s extroversion served him well but may have contributed to conduct that almost derailed his presidency. It’s impossible to imagine the cautious and temperate Mr. Obama mired in the Monica Lewinsky scandal.”

Introverts hoping to run for office may want to enlist the help of those close to them: “The support of one’s loved ones is really crucial,” said Dr. Little. He also advises such political hopefuls “not to be afraid to act out of character, rise to the occasion, motivate yourself to do so, but make sure you have restorative niches available for you” when the social interaction of campaigning becomes overstimulating.

Mr. Bush may already be familiar with acting out of character. Mr. Dáte writes that when the avowed introvert ran for governor of Florida in 1994, he undertook “a six-day, 28-city, 50-event motor-home swing leading into the Republican primary. A breakfast speech, luncheon remarks, a couple of local government photo ops, a rubber-chicken dinner, capped off with a near-midnight arrival at a motel in the next town on the list, only to do it all over again the following morning.”

At the time, Mr. Dáte argues, “Jeb Bush wanted to be governor more than he needed his solitude.” The same may be true of the presidential nomination: “Given his track record, the safer bet is probably on Bush. Even an introverted one.”

And America, Dr. Riggio suggests, might do well to focus more on issues than on introversion. “I think people put too much emphasis” on the trait, he said. “We really should talk about, what does the person represent? What are their ideas?”